Colour Classification Analysis Based on MFCC Acoustic Feature Sets and Machine Learning Algorithms in Sound–Colour Synaesthesia
Sound–colour synaesthesia is a rare phenomenon in which auditory stimuli automatically evoke stable, subjectively real colour experiences. This study aimed to investigate whether the colours most frequently reported by a synesthete can be reliably predicted based on objective acoustic parameters of voice signals. The study analysed the responses of a 24-year-old blind woman to different voices, which she consciously associates with distinct coloured silhouettes. A classification analysis based on MFCC acoustic feature sets and machine learning algorithms (SVM, XGBoost) demonstrated that the models could be trained with very high Accuracy—up to 97–100% in binary classification and 89–90% in multi-class classification. These results provide new insights into how specific sound characteristics are linked to imagery arising from the human subconscious.
Authors
- Renaldas Raišutis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2408-5427)
- Aušra Saudargienė (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2768-3334)
- Martynas Maciulevičius (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1230-6587)
- Raminta Bartulienė (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3094-8211)
- Saulius Šatkauskas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9001-7767)
- Gustavas Davidavičius
- Diana Ragaišė (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5514-198X)
Institutions
- Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LT)
- Kaunas University of Technology (LT)
- Vytautas Magnus University (LT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Applied Sciences
- Published
- 2025-11-13
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3390/app152212059
- Primary Topic
- Multisensory perception and integration
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00